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	High Court Vacates Hebron Pastor's Sexual-Abuse Conviction Case Ordered Back to Common Pleas Court for Retrial By Russ Zimmer Advocate April 3, 2008 http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/UPDATES01/80402026/1002/ NEWARK — The state's highest court has vacated a Hebron pastor's 2006 admission of sexual abuse and ordered his case back to the Licking County Courthouse, according to an opinion released by the Ohio Supreme Court. In November 2006, Lonny J. Aleshire Jr., now 37, was sentenced to seven years in prison for convictions on 10 charges, including first-degree felony rape, alleging sexual conduct with two girls — ages 15 and 17 at the time — while they were parishioners and he was an associate pastor at the Licking Baptist Church in Hebron. Last week, the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court, by a 5-2 decision, ordered that Aleshire's case be returned to Licking County Court of Common Pleas and continue as if he had never changed his plea. In a short entry, the justices overruled the trial and appellate courts citing the authority of State v. Sarkozy, a 2008 decision by the high court that ruled a plea is invalidated if a defendant is not informed of mandatory post-release control during a change-of-plea hearing. The reversal overturns Common Pleas Judge Jon Spahr's ruling not to hear Aleshire's motion to withdraw his guilty plea Dec. 1, 2006. That local order was affirmed by the Fifth District Court of Appeals in an Aug. 29 opinion. Aleshire had what prosecutors alleged was a two-year "love affair" with the younger of the two alleged victims, who were sisters. He also allegedly raped the older sister in a back hallway at the church in June 2004, pushing her to the ground and forcing her to engage in sexual activity. He employed the younger sister as a baby sitter, and prosecutors said some of the alleged encounters took place when he drove her home. State investigators allegedly matched DNA from the defendant to a location in the church where one of the alleged incidents occurred. He also allegedly admitted involvement with one of the girls during a recorded phone conversation. Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt said he was surprised to learn of the court's decision because he was not given an opportunity to present the differences between Aleshire's case and State v. Sarkozy. "In Sarkozy, that defendant after pleading guilty sought to withdraw his plea before he was sentenced," Oswalt said this afternoon. "Aleshire waited almost one year after sentencing before he tried to withdraw his guilty plea." Ohio law sets a higher standard for motions to withdraw pleas after sentencing has occurred, requiring a "manifest injustice," according to Fifth District's opinion. Without that benchmark, the potential exists for defendants to pull back admissions of guilt after sentencing because they were unhappy with the penalty, the opinion continues. Oswalt also argues that Aleshire was informed of a five-year period of post-release control as evidenced by his signature on change-of-plea forms with the parole phase noted. A motion to reconsider was filed today with the Ohio Supreme Court, the prosecutor said. Depending on any judicial action, Aleshire will be transported back to the local jail, where he will then have a bond hearing on the original charge, third-degree felony sexual battery, and could be released pending his ability to post bond, Oswalt said. In his local case, Aleshire, who is acting as his own attorney, filed seven motions today, including one to dismiss the six counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony, and three counts of sexual imposition, a third-degree misdemeanor. In the motion, Aleshire writes that having served more than two years already he has fulfilled the sentence because Spahr ordered six concurrent one-year terms for the felonies and 60 days in jail, also concurrent, for the misdemeanor charges. Oswalt, who had not yet viewed the motions, said if the Ohio Supreme Court's judgment stands as it is, the sentence will be erased in addition to Aleshire's plea, eliminating any double jeopardy argument. "The judge could theoretically impose a longer sentence than he got the first time," Oswalt said, adding that an indictment on a charge of sexual battery, which was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, would also be reopened. The time lapse could prove to make trying the case more difficult, Oswalt said, but a pending civil case filed by the family of the alleged victims against the church may have helped maintain the girls' memories. Russ Zimmer can be reached at (740) 328-8548 or razimmer@newarkadvocate.com.
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